WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO
LAND A JOB AT GORD'S?
The list of luminaries who make up Gord's Alumni is a long one, but that's mostly due to the fact that we've been around since 1961. We do have a tendency to keep our staff for a longer than your average shop and we're very proud of that fact. We like to think that it comes down to hiring the right people, providing them with an enjoyable work environment and a very large hot tub on the roof (we wish).

When we hire staff there are a few strict guidelines that we follow... Little things like ethics, respect and walking the walk. We only hire folks who share our passion for the sports and activities we represent ... While we don't insist that our staff be experts skiers, snow boarders or bikers, we do insist that they posses a passion for those sports, that they get out and play and that they pursue a working knowledge of the gear and clothing we offer ... and last but not least every Gord's employee must posses a desire to share their passion with our customers.

It comes down to CARING and we care. Sometimes too much perhaps but one can never go wrong with hiring dudes and dudettes who care. Our belief is that if our staff cares, they will do what it takes to ensure your experience is a good one.

The product knowledge part of the equation is something we take very seriously at Gord's and we spend LOTS of time money training our staff. From taking key employees to ski and snowboard tests to taking our staff to trade shows and paying for hundreds of hours of product knowledge meetings and seminars, we seriously believe in the old adage that states that knowledge is power... And we do everything to make sure there is SOMEONE in the building that has an answer to your question, a solution to your problem or a suggestion for your next adventure.

The last part of the puzzle is that we all genuinely care for each other and treat each other as if we were family (complete with sibling rivalry). Working at Gord's entails buying into our core values, values that come straight from Gord Reid himself: Do it right, don't sell crap, listen to the customer and get out there and do it so you can relate and educate.

The quality of the people who work for us is our greatest combined asset. Without them we'd be just another shop selling stuff but with them we're so much more than a retailer, we're Gord's Ski and Bike.

GOT SKI EXPERIENCE?
Are you looking to buy your ski gear from someone who knows what their talking about? Looking to get some ski advice from someone who has, at the very least, skied before? How does 6 alpine ski coaches, 2 freestyle coaches, 3 ski instructors, 6 ex-racers and a combined ski experience of well over 120 years sound? Fact is that no retailer in central Canada has more ski-knowledgeable staff than your friendly neighborhood Gord's Ski and Bike. Just take JF for example (pictured here skiing at Alyeska in Alaska), not many people anywhere have more ski experience than our President. No kidding, the guy has pretty much done it all including ski testing, racing, coaching, ski patrolling, ski repping and over 20 years as a full-time ski instructor in Quebec and Vermont. You want ski experience? Drop by our Donald store and let's talk white stuff.

RIDE MUCH?
As matter of fact we do! Did you know that absolutely every staff member at Gord's Ski and Bike belongs to Gord's Bike Club? It's mandatory to ride! If you're an employee you ride. It's as simple as that. The sum collection of staff bikes is mind boggling. Believe it or not, we're not kidding when we say that collectively the staff own well over $90,000 worth of bikes (we don't ride crap). From JF's Commençal Supreme Mini DH and Darci's Rocky Mountain Slayer SXC to Coppens' and RT's unicycles and DH bikes, we have our priorities straight: RRSP's are for other people.

WALK IT LIKE YOU TALK IT
I remember when I was a 12 year-old kid in Montreal, Driving up to our chalet in the Laurentians every weekend, driving past GM's St-Therese assembly plant and seeing hundreds and hundreds of Hondas, Toyotas and Fords in the staff parking lot, thinking how wrong that was. Why would you not drive a chevy if you were building Camaros?

It's a matter of pride to us (and a pet peeve of mine) that we all ride and ski on stuff we sell. It's now an indelible part of Gord's culture. Except for the newbies who are given a year to flip their existing gear, we strongly recommend (and in some cases subsidize) that our staff ride the brands and products that we sell.

It's simple: How else can we honestly tell you how a Scott Genius rides unless we've ridden one ourselves? Of course we do the ski and bike and snowboard tests. Yes, we borrow each-other's rides regularly... but nothing beats real-world ownership experience in order to relate to you what living with this product is going to be like... And that's why we insist that staff trash their Elans and hop on a pair of Dynastar's, It's called walking it like you're talking it. It's called integrity. It's the way Gord would have it.

THE NEWBIES
Every year we stock up on fresh faces and virgin ears, something about adding fresh water to the tub. This year we added Cliff, Katie, Kaitlyn and Paula and we're very happy to report that their impact on the team has been nothing but positive, these guys epitomize what Gord's stands for, caring, curiosity, hard work, playful demeanor and a strong desire to help folks out.

Cliff came to us via a competitor and has impressed us with his desire to learn and to contribute. An excellent bike tech, we're counting on him to add his unique brand of attention to detail and passion to the tech shop team.

Katie (ski girl) and Kaitlyn (warehouse assistant) have been doing a superb job of helping Val (our shipping and warranty manager) receive over $700,000 of winter inventory over the past month or so, thus learning all there is to know about Gord's "back end" as we call it. We're looking forward to transitioning Katie onto the sales floor shortly to help us out with ski and snowboard sales.

Paula, comes to us direct from Panorama where she spent time as a racer, coach and instructor (she also did a stint at Holiday Mountain in LaRiviere as a coach) and Levi in Finland where she taught skiing for a season. Paula can now be found at our Donald Street store helping JF out in ski land where her sense of humor, knowledge, curiosity and enthusiasm has already proved quite the asset.